North korea rocket

Update, 7 February 2016: North Korea declares that at 9 a.m. local time it launched an “earth observation satellite” into orbit. The launch was followed by condemnation by Japan, South Korea, and the United States, who doubt the peaceful intentions of such a test. Jim Oberg’s own doubts stem from his on-the-ground observations of the North Korean space program in 2012. North Korea has told the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization that it plans to launch a new space rocket this month, its first in more than three years. The stated aim of the launch is to deliver an Earth-observation satellite into orbit. But the plan, which comes hot on the heels of the country’s nuclear test last month, has drawn criticism and concern from a number of countries, who point out that this same technology can be used to produce a ballistic missile with a range of thousands of miles. There is very good reason to suspect that the peaceful objective … [Read more...] about What’s Behind North Korea’s Space Launch? A View From the Inside

When we wrote this tounge-in-cheek piece about what North Korea could do to look more technologically advanced than it is, we weren’t seriously expecting the reclusive totalitarian state to make some ridiculous moves to upgrade – it was just a joke. However, given North Korea’s tech track record, which includes the use of Windows XP at one of its rocket control facilities, as well as its status as a nearly failed state, perhaps we should’ve seen this coming.The newest version of North Korea’s Red Star operating system looks a heck of a lot like Mac OS X. But it’s not. Once again, we shouldn’t be surprised by this copycat maneuver. After all, the previous version of the OS looked quite a bit like Windows 7. Take a look at a screenshot of the previous Red Star release below to see what we mean. Red Star or Windows 7?News of Red Star OS and its existence hit the Web when Will Scott, an American computer scientist who was lecturing at the … [Read more...] about North Korea ‘upgrades’ to copycat version of Mac OS X

North Korea’s successful launch of a weather satellite on Wednesday has sparked new concerns that the threat posed by the country is greater than previously believed. Many of also discussed whether the launch marks a breach of United Nations sanctions imposed upon the state to prevent its development of nuclear and missile-based technologies.A rocket was successfully launched Wednesday at 1 a.m. GMT, with North Korean news sources reporting that the launch was intended to put a new weather satellite into orbit (It reportedly succeeded in that aim). “The second version of satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 successfully lifted off from the Sohae Space Center by carrier rocket Unha-3 on Wednesday,” the Korean Central News Agency, the state’s official mouthpiece, told viewers, adding that “the satellite entered its preset orbit.” The Unha-3 rocket is estimated to have a range of approximately 10,000 kilometers, or roughly 6,213 miles – … [Read more...] about North Korea successfully launches rocket with enough range to reach Los Angeles

The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, has been voted Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. You may be thinking this can’t be right, but it’s true – and has been confirmed on Time’s own website. Of course, there is a catch, as Kim has only won the public vote for Person of the Year, while the actual winner is a decision left down to the magazine’s editors and not, as in the case of Kim Jong-un, the Internet.But still, that’s an impressive achievement, and it gets even better too. Kim Jong-un attracted 5.6 million votes, apparently more than twice that of The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart, who came in second. So how on earth did this happen? It’s all down to pranksters from notorious website 4chan, where the plan to propel the dictator to the top spot was hatched.A forum thread appeared soon after Time opened the voting, asking the community, “can we please make our wonderful leader Kim Jong-un Time’s Person of the Year … [Read more...] about North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, wins Time Magazine’s Person of the Year (sort of)

Those brave and rich enough to enter the limited world of North Korean tourism will be glad to know that mobile operator Koryolink has opened its data services to foreigners visiting the totalitarian country. Yep, this means you’ll be able to use your smartphones and tablets to browse the Web in the country. While local North Koreans have a narrow access to Internet due to government restrictions, it didn’t take long for visitors to capture the scenes in the country’s capital, Pyongyang, and broadcast the images over Instagram.The photos come from Associated Press reporter Jean H. Lee who is currently in the country and can readily tweet and post Instagram photos via Koryolink’s service. In one photo, Lee published an image of a sign regarding nuclear tests, while another photo highlights the city skyline at night. Perhaps even more disturbing is a photo of a postcard for sale that depicts a fist punching down on a rocket with a shredded American flag. Lee … [Read more...] about First few glimpses of North Korea via Instagram

Google’s Eric Schmidt is on a visit to North Korea this week, though it apparently has nothing to do with his role as the web giant’s chairman. According to the man who invited him, former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, the visit to one of the most secretive and repressive states on the planet is part of a humanitarian mission.“This is not a Google trip, but I’m sure he’s interested in some of the economic issues there, the social media aspect, so this is why we are teamed up on this,” Richardson told the Associated Press.While the North Korean leaders will be well aware of Schmidt’s role as chairman of Google, the fact is that among the country’s population of around 25 million, few will have even heard of the company. Indeed, only a couple of thousand people in the isolated nation are thought to have access to the Internet, and even then any such service is tightly controlled.Richardson, who’s made made a number of visits to … [Read more...] about Google’s Eric Schmidt on a private visit to North Korea

Informatics The North launched its first and only satellite in 2012. The claim that it is working on another, made in an interview last week with an AP Television crew in Pyongyang, comes amid a flurry of attention to the country's fledgling space agency, including a visit by leader Kim Jong Un to a new satellite control center that was repeatedly broadcast on North Korean TV early last month."We are developing a more advanced Earth observation satellite and when it's complete, before launching it, we will inform international organizations and other countries," Paek Chang Ho, vice director of the scientific research and development department of the North's space agency, said in the interview.Paek did not provide further details of what the satellite will do, how close it is to completion, when development began or when the next launch might be.Speculation the North may be planning a rocket launch to mark the 70th anniversary this October of the ruling Korean Workers Party heated up … [Read more...] about North Korea Developing New Satellite, Defends Space Program

The visit to North Korea this week by a team led by Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has stirred up controversy.The U.S. State Department has criticized the move, while Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has described Richardson and Schmidt as "useful idiots".McCain's statement has drawn fire from readers of an article on the visit published in the Independent.Meanwhile, in a move that may further inflame the U.S. government, North Korea has claimed that the delegation paid tribute to Pyongyang's late leaders, Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, the Telegraph reported.There are reportedly nine people in the group. They apparently include Richardson's daughter, Sophie, and Jared Cohen, director of the Google Ideas think tank.The visit is not official but a private humanitarian mission, Richardson and Schmidt have said.It's been reported that Schmidt's interested in the social aspects of the North Korean economy.Both Richardson and Schmidt were well aware of U.S. … [Read more...] about Schmidt’s Visit May Help Open Up North Korea

The official Twitter page for the Japanese city of Yokohama announced that "North Korea has launched a missile."This would be scary if true, but because it didn't actually happen, it's just kind of embarrassing.The tweet, which was sent out to 40,000 followers, had been drafted in case, you know, North Korea actually did attack. It had blank spaces to indicate the time of the rocket launch.The city deleted the tweet and apologized to its followers.The tweet shows the angst in Japan over the increasingly erratic behavior of North Korea, which has been on a threat binge in recent weeks. Japan has assault missiles at the ready and sea-based interceptors in the Sea of Japan.[Source: AFP] At long last, Google has submitted to European Union regulators a package of concessions that could help it settle -- without a fine -- a two-year antitrust investigation.In December, the EU had set a January deadline asking for proposals from Google, which has been under investigation for abusing its … [Read more...] about TECH TREK Konnichi-Whoops! Japanese City Accidentally Tweets About North Korean Attack

When we have a hostile country regularly lobbing missiles into the ocean with the stated objective of transforming a U.S. state into a radioactive cloud, we have a problem. One "oops" and we could suddenly become a 49-state nation again -- and that is only if we forget the issues with fallout and the potential for a nuclear winter (granted, that could be good news for the global warming folks).However, the approaches to cutting the legs out from under North Korea largely have been in-the-box thinking: economic sanctions that require China's cooperation (and aren't working); military and assassination options that would trigger retaliation that likely would result in a lot of us glowing at night; and revolution efforts that have little or no chance of succeeding.Still, there are companies that have been working on technologies that effectively could contain North Korea's missiles and turn their leader into more of a vocal than a physical problem. Since I'm on the West Coast and … [Read more...] about OPINION Could Tech Nerf North Korea?